Notes / Commercial Description:
Brewed to celebrate 100 years of the oldest hiking trail in North America, the Long Trail. This ale features a slightly sweet malt ﬂavor delicately balanced by the use of centennial hops. This bigger beer goes down smooth, please indulge with moderation.

Our Imperial Red Ale has the traditional characteristics of a red ale with the addition of an ample amount of hops and a higher grain bill that yields more sugars during the brewing process; resulting in a higher ABV.

Reviews by jzeilinger:

A - Pours a dark ruby red color with a creamy layer that dies down to an even lacing.

S - Roasted malt and light pine dominate the nose, the overall aroma is biscuity and a little earthy.

T - Roasted caramel malt, biscuits, and pine bitterness all mesh together for an even blend across the entire sip, that is, until the end, there's also a slight earthiness to the grain. At the end, the pine bitterness gathers some momentum and builds after the sip to coat the mouth with moderate amounts of bitter pine. On the way down, the alcohol warms the back of the throat as well.

More User Reviews:

Pours into an imperial pint glass a clear deep amber with a half finger light tannish colored head that settles pretty quickly.Piney hops really stand out in the nose along with some earthiness and mild roast,not much sweetness.Flavors are quite hoppy at the onset with pine resin to a lesser extent grapefruit notes,again it's quite dry for the style with a little alcohol and caramel detected.Not bad the finish is a little abrupt but this has a nice hop profile.

In a tulip, the beer was a dark cherry amber color with a thick tan head that receded quickly. A good amount of lacing.
Strong malt aroma, caramel. Sharp alcohol aroma.
Pretty malty. Caramel, some fruit. Alcohol still very noticeable.
This beer is 7.9% ABV, and was still very hot.
Definitely a beer to sip; 12oz probably would have been enough for me.

Pours a very deep ruby color with a nice frothy head that goes nowhere. Smells of sweet, candied malts, subtle spicy notes, spruce, citrusy, brown sugar. Taste is of more sweet malts (almost too sweet), and balanced by a bitter metallic hop bite...not too much going on. Astringent, dry finish. Not much carbonation. The taste if definitely a let down after the nice aroma. There isn't much depth to the flavor as one would expect. One bomber is more than enough....kinda wish it was a 12oz.

Centennial Red begins with a surprisingly hoppy nose, full of citrusy grapefruits and hints of pine. A look at Long Trail's website reveals that Centennial, Nugget, and Chinook hops went into the mix. On the malt side (Two-Row, Caramel, Roasted Barley, and Chocolate), the nose has a lovely, sugary background that is part dark (chocolate, hints of toasted wheat bread) and light (Grape Nuts cereal, baking wheat bread).

On the tongue, the first flavors are sugars, with good fruit flavors (apricot, berry), which move quickly into a toasted grain base that is reminiscent of raw wheat and wheat bread. Slight hints of darker grains and toasted pecans pop out, joined by a good amount of grapefruit bitterness from the hops (55 IBUs). The sugars last well into the mouthful, but do die out near the end, revealing more of the chocolate malt base and grain flavors. The aftertaste is largely hops, with a good subtext of toasted grains, and lingers for a long time. Mouthfeel is a creamy, dry medium, and carbonation is medium-light.

Overall, this is a well-balanced beer that strikes a nice medium between sweet and hoppy, providing excellent sugar and fruit flavors, as well as grain and citrus notes, and so has something for everyone. The hops do overtake the aftertaste with slightly too much fervor, but the beer nicely hides the 7.9% ABV, and the main part of the mouthful is delicious.

This one is dated from 10/29/10 at 0958, I like this clear born on date to take the mystery out of buying pre aged beer. Pours a brilliant deep mahogany amber hue, forms a thick light beige head with fine even lacing around the sides of my imperial pint glass. I'm actually digging the deep amber malt presence found in the nose, almost caramel/cereal grains/nuttiness at first. In the background the nose as a sourdough appeal to it as well with a hint of citric hops flashing through. Flavor going down is great, brings out citric hops amongst a big husky/caramel/nutty malt backbone with a tart semi dry finish works well to have some citrus toned American hops backing up this big ass red ale. Remains balanced throughout the experience, really a nice brew going on. Maybe a bit one dimensional with caramelly roasted malts and a citric tartness that works well but it's single note on a whole fret board playing over and over again. A well done note can entertain you but there's got to be more to it than just that, solid roasted malts citric hops kicking in smooth carbonation a bit cloying as it warms overall not a bad experience. Drinkability is a solid offering for an affordable price at 4.99 in Pittsburgh you have to give this Long Trail beer a try just for the price if not anything else. Happy I gave it a go enjoyable without ever overwhelming me.

The first sip is bright and crispy as roastie barley, gentle caramel sweetness, subtle oak and smoke in the malt, nearly chocolate...maybe light choco. The malt has decent complexity but the hops are really where it's with this brew; Dry wheat and Rye, earthy and citric fruitiness comes from the green cones. Dry earth and sour, malty finish.

Poured from bottle into Saison DuPont glass. Bright amber red color with an off white head that fades fast to a cap with good lacing and retention. Smell is sweet malts, rye, red candy, with some very earthy hops. Very bitter with some sweet flavors following, pale malt, spicy hops, not a ton of depth. Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium bodied with a medium carbonation. A drinkable beer but kind of one dimensional. I was actually hoping this was a single hop Centennial red, but after reading the label I learned it was actually for a 100 year anniversary - oh well. Overall not a bad beer, but I wouldnt go out of my way to get it.

On tap at Cole's, at Mike's recommendation. dark red with a whisp of head, and later white lace ring. A full mouthfeel with good bitterness and lightly toasted malts.A little roast. Somewhat sweet finish. A pint was very filling.Long Tail have picked it up a notch in last year.Had it again a year and a half later and it was bang on the style.

Second beer of the night at the Johnstown Tulune"s Southside Saloon was the Long Trail Centennial Imperial Red. The color was a classic amber/red with thin white head that laced...ok. There was a floral hint in the nose of this beer...but nothing spectacular. The taste was very very smooth....given the higher ABV. I was hoping for a dry hopped Imperial Red....unfortunately no....it is basically a fuller bodied Red ale....think Killians on roids. The beer does come off the pallete clean. The mouthfeel is tough to give props due to the heavier ABV...but due to the smoothness...I would try a SESSION!

I think this is a beer that no matter what type of beer is your
favorite style, that you will enjoy this beer. It is by far the best that I have had from Long Trail. I bought it to a tasting at my brother's
bar and the regulars picked it as the best of the tasting that day.
Very drinkable, a great every day beer on the high end the chart.

T: Starts off with a light sweetness, which forms into a smooth malty combination of texture and flavor. It ends with a light bitter finish which has a very nutty flavor in the back. Pretty complex combination of flavors and how they resonate on the tongue.

M: The beer has a good body with a very smooth texture. It's not watery at all. The carbonation is good, a little on the light side, but not in a bad way.

D: The beer is drinkable, but I'm not very fond of brown ales, so I can't rate this vey highly. I find that the nutty malty quality tends to dominate the brown ales and for that reason it doesn't appeal to me. The presence of hops is noticiable in the bitter qualities of the beer, but they don't really shine through in the scent, which is a major part of the overall experience.

Pours a clear amber color with a small yet frothy off-white head that settles into a sparse cap.

The aroma is of grapefruit hops, some herbal and peppery and tropical fruit notes and a toasted caramel malt. Not a super hoppy smell but it is interesting.

The taste definitely sides with the malt. A sweet caramel malt with some candied cherries, honey, and some noticable alcohol. There is a light grapefruit and grassy hop presence that lurks around but never breaks through but does add a strong bitterness. There is also some pepper and an odd medicinal/herbal note.

The feel is moderate with prickly carbonation. It starts off a bit slick and sticky but finishes with a fairly strong bitterness. The booz sticks out a bit.

A decent imperial red. I think they went a tad too big on the malt which produced a slick and sticy body and the abv is a bit harsh. Tone it down a notch and add more hop flavor and this would be a winner.

A deep brownish red with a sizable head of a dark tan hue. Very clear. Smell is of sweet caramel and yeasty fruitiness. A toasted multigrain bread blends it all together as a hint of sweet alcohol hits my nostrils melted into piney hops. Taste is a continuation of the nose with a nice mellow grapefruit and pine hoppiness. A flavorful fruitiness flows throughout and moves from tropical mango to light bananas and maybe a bit of papaya in between. Light fusel alcohol is so well integrated that is seems like a light mint breeze instead of a hint. kind of longish dry finish leaves bread and toffee with hop oil dripping from the back of my mouth. Feel is lightly syruped with a smooth carbonation and a slightly chewey weight. Nice drinkablity with a quenching sensation.